The present invention relates generally to telephone receptacles, and, more particularly, to a mobile telephone hang-up cup which may be mounted upon any support location of an automobile.
Improvements in the field of cellular communications have permitted ever more cost-efficient cellular telephone systems to be utilized by ever greater numbers of users. Because of the unique conveniences afforded by cellular communications, and the increasingly modest costs of communicating therewith, use of mobile and other portable cellular phones has increased dramatically in recent years.
Cellular communication systems permit a user to communicate telephonically at virtually any location. While cellular communication systems may be advantageously utilized for any telephonic communication in which access to conventional telephone communication systems is not available, cellular communication systems are perhaps most frequently utilized by operators travelling in an automobile.
A cellular phone carried in an automobile is commonly referred to as a mobile phone for the reason that the telephone must be constructed to permit usage thereof as the automobile is travelling at a speed towards or away from a cellular receiving station. The telephone transmits a low wattage, radio frequency signal to the receiving station whereat connections are provided with a conventional telephone system. Numerous receiving stations are positioned at spaced-apart locations in a subscriber area wherein each receiving station defines a "cell". As the automobile in which the mobile telephone is positioned travels through successive cells, the signals transmitted by the mobile telephone are received by successive receiving stations.
Because the operator of the mobile telephone is many times the driver of the automobile in which the mobile telephone is carried, the mobile phone must be of a design to permit the user to perform normal driving functions while simultaneously operating the mobile phone to communicate therewith. Conventionally, a mobile telephone includes a handset, similar to a handset of a conventional telephone having both a receiver portion (i.e., an ear piece) and a transmitter portion (i.e., a mouthpiece). The handset is electrically coupled to transmit/receive circuitry which, in turn, is connected to a suitable power supply, and, if desired, also to amplification circuitry.
Most mobile telephones further include apparatus for supporting the handset portion of the telephone when the handset is not utilized by the operator of the phone. The handset may be supported by the support apparatus when the mobile phone is not utilized to send or receive information (i.e., when the phone is not being used), or, when the mobile phone is operated in the "hands free" mode in which, similar to a conventional telephone speaker phone, a speaker element coupled to the transmit/receive circuitry of the mobile phone is utilized to perform the functions of both the receiver portion and the transmitter portion of the handset.
Such support apparatus must be of a design to permit positioning thereof so as to permit the operator of the mobile telephone to quickly and conveniently remove the telephone handset therefrom when the operator desires to utilize the telephone handset. Additionally, the support apparatus must be of a design to permit the operator to quickly and conveniently reposition the telephone handset upon the support apparatus when the handset is no longer utilized.
This support apparatus, usually referred to as a telephone receptacle or a hang-up cup, may be mounted, for example, upon the dashboard of an automobile, upon an arm rest portion of the automobile, or within the glove compartment of the automobile. At any of these mounting locations, the telephone receptacle may be mounted in position by means of threaded shaft members affixing the telephone receptacle directly to the respective mounting location. The telephone receptacle may also be affixed to a mounting assembly which, in turn, is affixed to the respective mounting location. Alternately, the telephone receptacle may be mounted at the mounting location by positioning a two-sided adhesive to interconnect the telephone receptacle and the mounting location. Use of the two-sided adhesive to affix the telephone receptacle to the support location of the automobile is advantageous for reasons of ease of installation; however, the permanency of the affixation of the telephone receptacle to the mounting location is reduced.
Several existing designs of telephone receptacles which may be mounted at the mounting locations of the automobile are comprised of housings containing a face surface having a recessed area of dimensions permitting the positioning of a portion of the telephone handset thereat. Latch members formed integral with the telephone receptacle, and projecting from sidewalls defining the recessed area, latchingly engage with corresponding, mated latching surfaces formed on the telephone handset to permit latching engagement therebetween. Typically, these telephone receptacle designs include two latch members formed to project from two opposing sidewalls of the sidewalls defining the recessed area. The mobile telephone operator removes the telephone handset from the telephone receptacle by grasping the telephone handset, and, in an "up and out" movement pulls the telephone handset away from the telephone receptacle. In order to reposition the telephone handset at the telephone receptacle, the mobile telephone operator reverses this procedure to reinsert the portion of the telephone handset into the recessed area to engage the latch members projecting from the opposing sidewalls with the corresponding, mated latching surfaces of the telephone handset. However, when removing the telephone handset from the telephone receptacle, the mobile telephone operator exerts a rotational torque upon the telephone handset. This rotational torque, or a component portion thereof, is transmitted to the telephone receptacle. Particularly in instances in which the telephone receptacle is affixed to the support location of the automobile by the two-sided adhesive, this torque transmitted to the telephone receptacle may be great enough to pull the entire telephone receptacle away from the mounting location of the automobile.
In order to reduce the amount of torque required to remove the handset from the telephone receptacle, several other existing telephone receptacle designs substitute one of the latch members formed integral with one of the sidewalls defining the recessed area with a retractable latch member. The retractable latch member may be positioned either in or out of a latching position. A button-type actuator is interconnected with the retractable latch member such that a force applied to the button causes retraction of the retractable latch out of the latching position. When the retractable latch is positioned in the retracted position, the torque required in order to remove the telephone handset from the telephone receptacle is reduced.
The button-type actuator is positioned to permit actuation thereof at either a left-hand side or a right-hand side of the telephone receptacle. Forces applied to the button portion of the actuator are transmitted to the retractable latch member to move the latch member out of the latching position. However, because the button portion of the actuator is positioned at either the left-hand side or the right-hand side of the telephone receptacle, the receptacle essentially becomes a right-handed or left-handed design depending upon the side at which the button portion is positioned. Such designs are disadvantageous for the reason that the telephone receptacle most suited for one mobile phone operator may not be best suited for a subsequent operator.
Additionally, a telephone receptacle having an actuator acessible at only one side thereof limits the locations at which the receptacle may be mounted. For example, a telephone receptacle having an actuator acessible at only the left-side portion of the receptacle can not be mounted directly to the right of an arm rest, as the actuator would not be accessible to permit actuation thereof.
One existing design includes an actuator for retracting the retractable latch having button actuators positioned at both left-hand and right-hand sides of the telephone receptacle. This design, however, requires both of the button actuators to be actuated simultaneously in order to retract the retractable latch to facilitate release of the telephone handset. This design is disadvantageous for the reason that the telephone receptacle cannot be positioned proximate to any abutment, such as an armrest, as both sides of the receptacle must be accessible.
What is needed, therefore, is a telephone receptacle having a retractable latch which may be positioned in a retracted position by actuation of an actuator positioned at either the left-hand, or right-hand side of the receptacle.
Another existing design similarly includes an actuator having button actuators positioned at both left-hand and right-hand sides of the telephone receptale. Actuation of either button actuator causes retraction of the retractable latch. However, the actuators are independent of one another, and actuation of one button actuator does not affect the second actuator. A spring separating the button actuators is required in order to facilitate repositioning of the retractable latch in the latching position once the button actuator is no longer actuated.